I had a bad day today. Maybe it wasn't bad. Maybe I'm just upset with myself. Anyway, as a remedy for my blues, I baked chocolate chip cookies and wrote this story. SasuHina therapy!

Also, my story "Maybe It's Mayo" got 2nd place for the SasuxHina-FanClub's Picture "Perfect" Moments contest. Thanks to all who voted for me! I'll try even harder next time!

This fic was a request from lanenadelmanga15 from DeviantArt. Enjoy! ^_^

I hear a yell come from the other side of the door. It sounds like Sasuke, a very angry Sasuke at that. There could be a number of reasons why he's yelling: Naruto burst into our apartment uninvited, Itachi burst into our apartment uninvited, Kakashi burst into our apartment uninvited, or we're out of tomatoes. Either one of these instances can result in fatality or an angry Sasuke (which is basically the same thing).

"Gomen, but I have to go, Ino," I quickly say into the phone.

"Okay. Talk to you later, Hinata!" Ino replies. "Hey, Shikamaru, get your lazy ass off of the couch and—"

The phone disconnects.

The background of my cell phone displays a picture of Sasuke and me. Well, only the top halves—eyes, forehead, and hair—of our heads are showing. I had wanted to take a picture of us together, but I hadn't quite aimed my cell phone correctly. Sasuke had rolled his eyes when I made this "fail photo" my cell phone's background. He was probably just bitter because his hair had stuck up more than usual in it. I find myself smiling at the memory, but then I remember that I need to check on him.

After slipping my phone into my pocket, I open the door. I find myself eyeing a knife that has been thrown onto the floor. It's covered in red, just like Sasuke's hand. Wait a minute, it's blood! Sasuke's hand! It's bleeding! I quickly dash back into the bedroom, grab a towel from the closet, and bring it back to Sasuke.

I take his hand—a hand that fits wonderfully with mine—and wrap the towel around it. Blood seeps through. He jerks his hand away, towel and all.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

Immediately, I know it's a dumb question.

"Does it look like I'm okay?"

I tear my gaze away from his injured hand and look him in the eyes. He glares at me. Usually, I love looking into his ebony eyes. Now I just feel uncomfortable under his scrutiny. It's as if he's looking into my soul and not liking what he sees. It's as if this whole thing is my fault, though I'm not sure how that's possible.

"Ano… will you tell me what happened?" I say quietly, breaking the silence.

The only thing that was more annoying than Uzumaki Naruto was elevator music.

Uchiha Sasuke decided that he hated elevators with a passion. After an exhausting—and downright shitty—day at the office, he was stuck inside an elevator for 63 more floors. Sasuke cursed this skyscraper for being too tall and this elevator for moving at a snail pace. All he wanted to do was get to his apartment to go out with Hinata for dinner. They always dined out on Fridays.

Alas, he was only now passing the 57th floor in this damned elevator. It smelled faintly of sweat, coffee, and farts. The elevator music was cheesy and soulless, like those infommercials that try to sell useless remote-control-voice-recorder-back-scratcher-all-in-one gadgets that never work. He thought he would go insane if he had to stay in this elevator.

When it stopped on the 55th floor, Uzumaki Naruto entered.

"You look pretty pissed, teme," he snickered.

Sasuke changed his mind. Amazingly, Naruto was more annoying than elevator music.

"Shut up," Sasuke hissed. "I don't need any shit from you today."

"Do you really kiss Hinata with that dirty mouth?"

This earned him a punch in the stomach. When Naruto hunched over in pain, Sasuke felt slightly better. Just slightly.

"Hey, what was that for?" Naruto growled as he took a swing at his coworker's face.

"For being an idiot," Sasuke stated as he ducked.

"I don't know how Hinata can put up with an asshole like you. I wouldn't be surprised if she's seeing someone else."

All right, now Sasuke was downright angry. It didn't help that Naruto was right. Hinata was kind, and Sasuke was not. Their relationship defied logic. Hearing it out loud made him furious. He proceeded to punch Naruto, but an arm blocked his way. At times like these, he wished he was something like a ninja so he could just pummel Naruto into the ground.

"Hinata would never cheat on me, dobe," he clenched his teeth.

"Yeah, she's too nice to do something like that," Naruto said as he counterattacked with a kick, "but I still don't understand how she could like someone like you."

At that instant, the elevator opened on the 26th floor. Sasuke stepped out of the way, and the force of Naruto's kick flew himself out of the elevator.

Aburame Shino stepped inside right before the doors closed, leaving a certain blonde idiot behind. Shino and Sasuke acknowledged each other with a nod. Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to cool his temper. He imagined eating dinner with Hinata. However, this made him think about Naruto's words about her. He quickly decided to toss those thoughts away because Naruto was an idiot who didn't know anything. He watched as the numbers on the elevator descended agonizingly slowly.

18… 17… Why, oh why did the elevator have to go at this snail pace?

16… 15… Shino's quiet creepiness brought the elevator music to a whole new level of torture.

14… 13… Was there a fly in here?

12… 11… The fly flew inside Shino's suit.

10… 9… Maybe Shino has some sort of bug fetish.

8… 7… Ew.

6… 5… Sasuke needed to get out of there. Now.

4… 3… Almost there, damnit.

2… 1… FINALLY!

Sasuke gratefully stepped out of the elevator. He scowled at Karin, the receptionist, as she blew him a kiss. He stomped all the way over to his car in the employee parking lot. As he drove to the apartment, he wondered which restaurant Hinata wanted to go to. A homey café? An elegant five-star? Or perhaps a family-style diner?

"I… ano… actually, I don't feel like going out to eat today," Hinata had answered. "Gomen."

Had he just heard right? They always went out on Fridays. It was strange of Hinata to not want to do anything. Could she really be cheating on him?

Absurd. He shouldn't be listening to Naruto's words because Naruto was an idiot.

"Fine," Sasuke said, as if he didn't care whether or not they went out.

He studied her, just in case. She didn't look sick, so that wasn't her excuse. If anything, she was beaming. There was no way that her work at that kindergarten could be so exciting. If anything, she should be exhausted from wiping the kids' butts or whatever teachers did.

However, something did catch his eye.

"You got a new necklace," he stated.

She touched it and blushed.

"Hai. It was a gift."

From her other man?

Sasuke stopped himself from thinking anything further. He was disgusted with himself for even thinking that she was seeing another guy. Hinata would never do that. She loved him; he was sure about that. She simply could have bought the new necklace for herself. She probably saw it on the way home from work and indulged herself in some retail therapy. Maybe that's why she looked so happy. Yes, that made perfect sense. She wasn't cheating on him. Sasuke turned his back to her before other frivolous theories crept into his mind.

"I'm going to make a sandwich," he stated.

"Okay," Hinata nodded. "I'm going to call Ino."

She walked into the bedroom for privacy. Too bad the apartment walls were thin.

Sasuke opened the fridge and surveyed the items inside. Hinata had left two bottles of nail polish on one of the shelves, and the milk was expired. When he spotted a jar of mayonnaise, he frowned. What the hell was this doing here? He despised mayonnaise and took it as a bad omen. He grabbed turkey, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes. He took a loaf of bread from the cupboard.

"Hi, Ino," Hinata's voice came from the other side side of the door. "How are you?"

After taking out two slices of bread, Sasuke added a couple of slices of turkey on top.

"I'm fine. Well… Hiro did something very cute today."

He debated which kind of cheese he wanted: provolone or cheddar. He chose provolone and added a slice of that too.

"He gave me a necklace. It was very nice of him."

Sasuke paused for a second and resumed tearing off lettuce leaves from the head and piling them onto his sandwich-in-the-making.

"I shouldn't be saying this… but I love spending time with Hiro the most."

Sasuke clutched the knife as he began slicing a tomato with superfluous force.

"I haven't told Sasuke; I don't think that he would understand."

"Shit!" Sasuke swore as the knife dug into the back of his hand.

He flung it on the floor. When he saw blood surface on his hand, he smirked. Naruto wasn't the idiot. It was he, Uchiha Sasuke, who was the real idiot here. Hinata cheated on him with some bastard named Hiro. What a stupid name. However, it didn't even matter what he had been named. Hiro had Hinata, and Sasuke had cut himself as if he was emo. Maybe he should go emo. Without Hinata, his life was a living hell anyway.

"Gomen, but I have to go, Ino," he heard Hinata say quickly.

"Ano… will you tell me what happened?" I say, breaking the silence.

Sasuke doesn't answer. He has a faraway look in his eyes, as if he's remembering something. If life was a manga, then there'd be a flashback going on right now. However, time doesn't stop for anything nor anyone. The seconds tick by, and the silence once again stretches out between us. I don't know what's wrong, but I'm worried for him.

Sometimes he gets these ideas in his head that I shouldn't be with him, that he'll taint me. Of course, I argue that my father has already tainted me. I tell Sasuke that if it weren't for the strength he gave me, I'd still be at the mercy of Hyuuga Hiashi. I'd still be denied of anything except a beating. However, now I do have strength, thanks to Sasuke. He's truly my hero.

"How long have you been seeing him?" Sasuke narrows his eyes.

I'm dumbfounded. What is he talking about? Maybe he's been acting weird because he's ill. I remember Ino telling me that a virus is going around.

"Seeing who?" I ask.

"Your lies make me sick," he spits.

It's not an answer, but at least I know that I'm right about him being ill. Though, I don't know what I have to do with it; I don't remember lying to him. Maybe he just doesn't know what he's saying. Sometimes people hallucinate when they're sick, especially if they have a fever.

"Do you have a fever?" I inquire, concern in my voice.

I try putting the back of my hand on his forehead to check his temperature, but he grasps my wrist with his uninjured hand and pulls it down. His glare freezes me in place. As I look into his ebony eyes, I realize that he's not sick, just furious and hurt.

"I know about Hiro," he states.

"Okay," I say with a hint of confusion.

"That's all you have to say?" he demands, his eyes growing colder by the second. "You're cheating on me, and that's all you have to say? What the fuck does Hiro have that I don't?"

His hold on my wrist tightens, and I think my circulation is being cut off. I feel terrible. However, I hold his gaze.

"Hiro is a kindergartener, Sasuke," I tell him slowly, making sure my voice doesn't waver. "He's my student. Nobody plays with him during recess, so he helps me with small chores in the classroom. I'm just very close to him because I… I know what it's like to be unwanted."

Tears in my eyes form as I think of how my father abused me. I still have scars to prove it.

"I didn't tell you about him because I thought you didn't care about my job," I continue. "Gomen."

Sasuke doesn't look me in the eyes. He stares at my necklace instead.

"What about that?"

"It's made out of paperclips. I helped Hiro make it," I explain quietly. "I wanted him to give it to a girl he liked, but he gave it to me instead."

After a pause of silence, Sasuke finally smirks, "You're a girl too, but you're my girl. I hate sharing."

It's not exactly an apology, but at least I know that Sasuke's sorry for misunderstanding. He releases the death-grip on my wrist and lets me remove the towel from his hand. His cut is actually smaller and shallower than I expected it to be. After cleaning the wound, I gently apply a band-aid onto it, plus a kiss to make it feel better. This should suffice.

Those eyes, so cold earlier, are now looking at me warmly. I want to melt as he holds my hands in his. He plays with the ring on my finger.

"Maybe we should go out for dinner," I suggest. "I didn't want to go earlier because I planned on grocery shopping since our milk is expired… but being together is more important. We can pick up milk afterward."

"Good," he agrees, looking at the counter. "I didn't want to eat that bloody sandwich."

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